Social Networks (42)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 5 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
At the end of 2020, Twitch, a social network predicated on streaming video content and commenting, expanded and clarified its definitions of hateful content in order to moderate comments or posts which harassed other users or otherwise had a negative effect on other people. However, as a workplace, the Twitch company has much to prove before validating this updated policy as something more than a PR move.
- TechCrunch
- 2020
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- 5 min
- TechCrunch
- 2020
Twitch updates its hateful content and harassment policy after company called out for its own abuses
At the end of 2020, Twitch, a social network predicated on streaming video content and commenting, expanded and clarified its definitions of hateful content in order to moderate comments or posts which harassed other users or otherwise had a negative effect on other people. However, as a workplace, the Twitch company has much to prove before validating this updated policy as something more than a PR move.
How can content moderation algorithms be used for a greater good, in terms of recognizing hate speech and symbols? What nuances might be missed by this approach? What does the human part of content moderation look like? What responsibilities does such a position come with? How might content moderation on digital platforms moderate harassment behaviors in real life, and vice versa?
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- 5 min
- ABC News
- 2020
The United States government is pushing its interest in breaking up the tech monopoly that is Facebook, hoping to restore some competition in the social networking and data selling market which the company dominates. Facebook, of course, is resistant to these efforts.
- ABC News
- 2020
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- 5 min
- ABC News
- 2020
Facebook hit with antitrust lawsuit from FTC and 48 state attorneys general
The United States government is pushing its interest in breaking up the tech monopoly that is Facebook, hoping to restore some competition in the social networking and data selling market which the company dominates. Facebook, of course, is resistant to these efforts.
What role did data collection and use play in Facebook’s rise as a monopoly power? What would breaking up this monopoly accomplish? Will users achieve more data privacy if one large company does not own several platforms on which users communicate?
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- 5 min
- NPR
- 2020
After the FTC and 48 States charged Facebook with being a monopoly in late 2020, the FTC continues the push for accountability of tech monopolies by demanding that large social network companies, including Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, share exactly what they do with user data in hopes of increased transparency. Pair with “Facebook hit with antitrust lawsuit from FTC and 48 state attorneys general“
- NPR
- 2020
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- 5 min
- NPR
- 2020
Amazon, TikTok, Facebook, Others Ordered To Explain What They Do With User Data
After the FTC and 48 States charged Facebook with being a monopoly in late 2020, the FTC continues the push for accountability of tech monopolies by demanding that large social network companies, including Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter, share exactly what they do with user data in hopes of increased transparency. Pair with “Facebook hit with antitrust lawsuit from FTC and 48 state attorneys general“
Do you think that users, especially younger users, would trade their highly-tailored recommender system and social network experiences for data privacy? How much does transparency of tech monopolies help when many people are not fluent in the concept of how algorithms work? Should social media companies release the abstractions of users that it forms using data?
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- 3 min
- Politico
- 2021
Live streaming technologies are challenging to moderate and might have a negative effect on society’s perception of violent events. They also raise the question of how such content can be deleted once it has been broadcasted and potentially copied multiple times by different recipients.
- Politico
- 2021
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- 3 min
- Politico
- 2021
Library of Congress bomb suspect livestreamed on Facebook for hours before being blocked
Live streaming technologies are challenging to moderate and might have a negative effect on society’s perception of violent events. They also raise the question of how such content can be deleted once it has been broadcasted and potentially copied multiple times by different recipients.
What are the ethical trade-offs of live-streaming through social media? Is it possible to remediate a socially undesirable broadcast? What actors are responsible for moderating live streaming on social media?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Brandy and Tim are two teens who attempt to live normal lives through interacting with their peers through social media platforms. For Brandy, this means using a secret Tumblr account to express herself, since her mother has passwords to all her other accounts and is able to constantly collect data from her daughter’s devices. Tim finds similar comfort in chatting with anonymous friends in an online game chat room. Tim and Brandy’s developing relationship is threatened once both of their parents overstep and violate their children’s privacy and trust.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Interaction Records and Privacy from Parents
Brandy and Tim are two teens who attempt to live normal lives through interacting with their peers through social media platforms. For Brandy, this means using a secret Tumblr account to express herself, since her mother has passwords to all her other accounts and is able to constantly collect data from her daughter’s devices. Tim finds similar comfort in chatting with anonymous friends in an online game chat room. Tim and Brandy’s developing relationship is threatened once both of their parents overstep and violate their children’s privacy and trust.
Since social media and smartphones can contain complete records of interactions between people, how can parents intervene in their children’s social lives more thoroughly in the digital age? Is letting teenagers have complete control over their social media use and privacy part of letting them be children in the digital age? How do digital chat rooms make it difficult to verify the true identity of those with whom people interact? How does this anonymity allow people to act differently than they might in real life? Is digital addiction a true problem, or is this simply the truth of social life in the digital age?
Men, Women and Children: Let Me See Your Phone-
- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
- The New York Times
- 2021
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- 7 min
- The New York Times
- 2021
Facebook and all of its apps go down simultaneously.
On October 4th, 2021, Facebook’s servers experienced an outage which left its apps, including the commonly used Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, out of commission for several hours. The problem is said to be caused by a incorrect configuring of Facebook’s servers, which ultimately led to a Domain Name System error in which the numerical IP addresses determined by the computer became inaccessible. The myriad effects of this outage spread across the globe as businesses were effected by the lack of access to these social networks. Additionally, certain other internet services linked to Facebook became inaccessible.
What are the dangers of relying on fallible networks to perform essential functions such as business? How can network infrastructure be more protected? How much data and information should Facebook be trusted with?